Concepts and Theories that Bring Success in Teamwork Projects - Coursework Example

Concepts and Theories that Bring Success in Teamwork Projects Name Institution Course Date Concepts and Theories that Bring Success in Teamwork Projects Companies are faced with very strong competition which tends to create many challenges. There, there is a need for continuous enhancement of company’s competitive advantage that will enable the business to survive (Blanchard, 2009). In order for this to happen, every organisation must exploit the full potential of the employees. Leadership plays a fundamental role in the process. Normally, leadership is one of the primary factors in directing and controlling the organisational constituents towards achieving organisational success. In order for a leader to be effective in achieving organisational goals, it is important that the leadership style used in compatible with the needs of the followers (Daft, 2008). Therefore, an organisation cannot succeed without effective leadership and high employee motivation and engagement. To foster teamwork, managers should strive to satisfy the motivational needs of the employees. This essay will analyse and detail out the concepts and theories that are important to managers in achieving success in teamwork projects. In practical, leadership and motivation are regarded to having a mutual interaction. This means that successful teamwork projects require an effective leadership style (Daft, 2008). Thus, the accomplishment of employee motivation is possible with effective leadership in place. Leadership styles tend to influence motivation. Participative, supportive, directive and communicative leadership styles can motivate employees, which will then result to higher productivity and performance. There is connection between transformational leadership style and motivation. Leadership style that is people oriented is a key driver for work motivation and teamwork. Contemporary leader is one who possesses supportive leadership style that indicates leader’s concern for employee’s wellbeing and personal needs (Frey and Osterloh, 2013). Managers should therefore acquire leadership behaviour that is open, friendly and approachable that can create a team climate as well as treat employees as equal. Such leadership style for managers will ensure the highest degree possible engagement of the employees in attaining organisational goals. Therefore, in order for managers to motivate employees and foster teamwork, they should acquire soft authoritarian leadership style that has components of consultative leadership style. In addition, in order to motivate teamwork, managers should foster rich communication flows and superior-subordinate interaction that entails subordinates putting forwards ideas when making decisions (Daft, 2008). Secondly, one of the fundamental skills that a manager can have is the ability to make rational and effective decisions. Managers make decisions every day that affects the success of an organisation and also the employees and marketplace. Many factors influence how leaders in organisations make decisions. They include risks and rewards, emotions, preparation, deadline and host. An effective decision is neither a good nor bad decision. Motivation of employees that fosters teamwork projects can be possible where the employees are allowed to participate in the decision making process (Gold, 2005). Involving the employees in decision making make them feel appreciated and part of a team. They then tend to raise their level of efforts in achieving goals. In addition, engaging employees in decision making will enable them feel a stronger connection of responsibility in a team setting. Also, employee engagement in decision making provides morale and motivation to them. In companies where employees are engaged in organisation decision making, the feeling of appreciation increases and they get motivated. This allows them to work harder in achieving organisational goals. Employee involvement affects the mind set of subordinates. Engaged people have the perception that they can make a difference in the firm they work in. confidence in the skills and knowledge that employees possess is a powerful enabler of performance and teamwork (Gold, 2005). As a manager one has the responsibility of finding ways of motivating the employees in order to enhance productivity and performance and enhance job satisfaction. it is impossible to force an employees to be effective at his work, but what he can do is to motivate him in a number of ways such as fair treatment, adequate compensation, appreciation and engagement in decision making to name a few. There are many ways managers can use to motivate its employees (Gold, 2005). A manager’s ability to praise and appreciate an employee has a huge impact on morale and motivation. Praising and appreciating an employee in the presence of other employees engages him to perform better to gain comparable accolades. In contrast correcting employees in private also preserves worker ego and allow one to offer guidance to the employee (Mullins, 2007). In addition, open communication is an extremely fundamental factor in motivating workers. Therefore, teamwork is possible where the employees are well motivated to do their work and accomplish the set goals. For example, in Tesco Company the management believe in motivating employees in order to achieve success through teamwork. In the company, communication is very important and employees are allowed to communicate one-on-one with the managers through the intranet and other structures like appraisals (Cole, 2004). In addition, the management give out Value Awards to the best performing employees as a way of celebrating achievement. This has resulted to stronger teamwork and eventually the success of the company. There are two theories that can be used to access the motivation of employees in a working environment. They include; Maslow’s theory and Herzberg two factor theory. Maslow’s theory suggests that humans are motivated to gratify five elementary needs. These needs are organized in a systematic order (Linstead, Fulop, & Lilley, 2009). Maslow suggests that humans ought to seek the lowest level of needs first before satisfying the high level needs. The hierarchy of needs according to Maslow’s theory is as follows; Psychological needs, security needs, belongingness, esteem needs and self-actualization. In a work setting, employees begin emphasizing on lower needs such as psychological needs. These are needs which humans require in order to survive such as shelter and clothing. This comes in terms of adequate wages as well as a stable income. Managers can tend to the psychological needs of their employees by offering a comfortable working environment (Blanchard, 2009). They should also come up with very reasonable working hours that favour both themselves and their employees. Once the employee’s basic needs have been adequately met, they will want their “belongingness” needs met. They are also known as social needs. This level of social connections is fundamental in humans because they show a certain level of acceptance into their social environment (Mullins, 2007). Therefore, managers can utilize Maslow’s theory to fulfil their employees’ needs by ensuring that they know one another. Managers can also encourage cooperative teamwork by giving them an opportunity to tackle both mental and physical challenges together as a team (Davies and Hertig, 2015). Moreover, managers can also use this theory by being a kind and accessible supervisor and also encouraging good work-life balance practices. In addition, esteem needs are key to employee motivation since they require self-esteem and respect from both their managers and colleagues (Daft, 2008). Self-respect is more important than even gaining admiration from others. Therefore, in order for managers to motivate their employees effectively, they can offer both praise and recognition when they have done well. This can boost the employees’ self-esteem thus motivating them. Also, managers can offer additional responsibilities to their employees to reflect their beliefs that they are worthy employees (Ryan and Deci, 2000). This act will boost the employees’ confidence thus improving their teamwork performance. Employees require self-actualization so as to reach their full potential. Therefore, the need of achieving what they capable is more of a personal requirement. Therefore, managers can effectively utilize this need by challenging their employees in their area of expertise (Davies and Hertig, 2015) This can help the employees broaden their knowledge improving their capability in contributing more in a teamwork project. Also, managers ought to invite their employees to take part in decision making activities. This will give the employees a sense of leadership giving them morale in participating in decision making procedures in a teamwork project. In addition, managers can grant them flexibility as well as independence in their jobs. This will help the employees gain confidence in them making it easier for them to perform executions in a teamwork project without hesitation (Blanchard, 2009). On the other hand, Herzberg’s two factor theory correlates the relationship between employee attitude and workplace motivation. This theory is established on the assumption that there exist two factors that impact motivation in a workplace. These factors include hygiene factor and motivator’s factor (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Herzberg came up with hygiene factor to describe factors that result in dissatisfaction within a work environment. These factors are extrinsic and are associated with things such as job security, working conditions, relationships between supervisors, quality of leadership, organization politics and compensation to name a few. On the other hand, motivator’s factor is connected to employee motivation and develops from intrinsic condition of the job itself. The factors for satisfaction include recognition, advancement, and job satisfaction, opportunity for growth, responsibility and achievement to mention a few (Linstead, Fulop, & Lilley, 2009). Therefore, managers can utilize this Herzberg theory in a number of ways in order to motivate their employees. They can do this by decreasing things that result to dissatisfaction and increase those that cause satisfaction. In order for managers to effectively motivate their employees using Herzberg theory, they ought to get rid of control management which has over the employees and in turn increase their levels of accountability as well as responsibility they have over their work (Cole, 2004). This would increase the employee independence and liability giving them more charge over their works therefore improves their teamwork capabilities. In addition, managers can complete and natural work entities wherever possible. They can do this by allowing their employees come up with a whole entity rather than allowing them to come up with small parts. This enables the employees gain great leadership skills along the way granting them great capabilities of taking charge of a teamwork project effectively (Cole, 2004). Furthermore, managers can constantly provide their employees with regular feedback with regard to both their productivity and job performances. They should do this directly instead of doing it through their supervisors. This enables them to build an employer-employee relationship which encourages greater communication and teamwork in any work project (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Additionally, managers can encourage their employees to challenge themselves by taking part in new problems and hence becoming experts at them. This builds employee confidence as well as their knowledge to a certain field. This is very important to project execution since the employees would be able to handle any type of task conveniently. Managers can also eliminate job dissatisfaction by creating and supporting a culture natured by respect and dignity for all employees. This will create a peaceful working environment that encourages positive energy that enhances teamwork within the working environment (Linstead, Fulop, and Lilley, 2009). Managers can also eliminate job dissatisfaction among their employees by ensure that the wages are competitive. This can motivate their employees by creating a sense of competition within the work environment encouraging teamwork amongst themselves (Kouzes and Posner, 2012). In addition, managers can utilize Herzberg’s theory to create conditions for job satisfaction by providing training and development opportunities to their employees. This motivates them to pursue any job position they are interested within the company. Managers can also provide opportunities that involve career advancement within the organization through internal promotions. They can also recognize their employees’ contributions to the workplace motivating them to contribute even more. Finally, managers can come up with rewards that match their employees’ skills and abilities (Gold, 2005). In conclusion, there are various factors that are fundamental in fostering teamwork projects. For instance, leadership plays a major role in motivating employees and ensuring employee engagement. Therefore in order to enhance teamwork in organisations, a manager should possess leadership styles that are people oriented such as transformational leadership style. Other was of fostering teamwork is through the engagement of employees in the decision making process. This grants the employees a sense of belonging and enable them work in collaboration that leads to the success of the organisation. On the other hand, motivation plays a major role in the fostering of teamwork projects in an organisation. According to Maslow, the managers should motivate and give morale to the employees by satisfying their immediate needs in order to enhance performance. Managers can also fulfil the psychological, social, self-actualization needs and esteem needs of the employees by offering praise and recognition, involving them in decision making and encouraging good work-life balance practice. Harzberg Two Factor Theory correlates the relationship between employee attitude and motivation. Harzbarg believes that some factors are not enough in motivating employees. In order to satisfy employees and motivate them, managers should consider all factors of motivation. References Blanchard, K 2009, Leading at a Higher Level, New Jersey, Upper Saddle River. (https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=p3d9dkcPRcsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Leading+at+a+Higher+Level&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Leading%20at%20a%20Higher%20Level&f=false) Cole, G. A 2004, Management – Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition, London, South-Western Cengage Learning. (https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=HQhvAnb4TgMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Management+%E2%80%93+Theory+and+Practice&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Management%20%E2%80%93%20Theory%20and%20Practice&f=false) Daft, L. R 2008, New Era of Management, Second Edn., Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western. (https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=RhwMpK19nj0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false) Davies, S. & Hertig, C 2015, Security supervision and management: The theory and practice of asset protection, Amsterdam Boston, Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier. (https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=ZtucBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Security+supervision+and+management+the+theory+and+practice+of+asset+protection&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Security%20supervision%20and%20management%20the%20theory%20and%20practice%20of%20asset%20protection&f=false) Frey, B. & Osterloh, M 2013, Successful management by motivation : balancing intrinsic and extrinsic incentives, Berlin New York, Springer. (https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=PU76BwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Successful+management+by+motivation+:+balancing+intrinsic+and+extrinsic+incentives&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Successful%20management%20by%20motivation%20%3A%20balancing%20intrinsic%20and%20extrinsic%20incentives&f=false) Gold, N 2005, Teamwork: An Interdisciplinary Approach, New York, NY., Palgrave Macmillan. Kouzes, J. & Posner, B 2012, The leadership challenge: how to make extraordinary things happen in organizations, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. (https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=P_UlzxnlGDAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+leadership+challenge:+how+to+make+extraordinary+things+happen+in+organizations&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The%20leadership%20challenge%3A%20how%20to%20make%20extraordinary%20things%20happen%20in%20organizations&f=false) Linstead, S., Fulop, L., & Lilley, S 2009, Management and Organisation: A Critical Text, Second Edition (illustrated ed.), Palgrave Macmillan. Mullins, L. J 2007, Management and Organizational Behaviour (illustrated ed.), Financial Times Prentice Hall. Ryan, M. R. & Deci, E. L 2000, Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation: Classic definition end new directions, Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(19), pp. 54-67. (https://mmrg.pbworks.com/f/Ryan,+Deci+00.pdf) Read More